Obsitnik plans to refund some campaign funds

Priya Anand

Published 8:20 pm, Tuesday, July 17, 2012

WASHINGTON -- Republican congressional candidate Steve Obsitnik agreed Tuesday to refund some campaign contributions because he didn't have to use the funds to win a primary election to oppose Rep. Jim Himes in the Nov. 6 election.

Himes' campaign had accused Obsitnik of "padding" his fundraising totals by including contributions that were intended for his primary election campaign but that now must be used in a different manner because the Republican avoided a primary to become his party's nominee for Connecticut's 4th Congressional District.

Federal law limits campaign contributions in congressional elections to $2,500 for the primary and, if the candidate wins the nomination, $2,500 for the general election.

If the candidate wins the nomination without a primary fight, the winner has three choices: 1) refund the money; 2) get the donor's approval to put those funds toward the general election within the $2,500 limit; or 3) save the money for a future primary campaign.

In Obsitnik's case, he avoided a primary battle by winning the nomination at the state's May 18 Republican convention.

In his second-quarter campaign finance report filed last weekend with the Federal Election Commission, Obsitnik, a businessman from Westport, said he had raised $236,169 in the second quarter. On Tuesday, his campaign said it would refund $42,500.

Obsitnik campaign manager John Puskar said Tuesday that "up until last month we were planning for a primary. Now that we do not face one, we will obviously return the money we raised for it."

Justin Myers, campaign manager for Himes, had accused Obsitnik's camp of trying to "make it look as if his fundraising numbers are more spectacular than they are" by including primary contributions that must be returned to the contributor.

Himes, of Greenwich, raised $552,672 in the second quarter, from April 1 to June 30. Myers said the campaign did not solicit primary donations because the two-term congressman was not facing a primary opponent and won his party's nomination at the state's May 12 Democratic convention.

A more complete examination of the FEC filings shows that in the Republican race for the nomination for the open U.S. Senate seat of retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays raised $530,812 in the second quarter.

Linda McMahon, his Republican primary opponent, a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive from Greenwich, raised $144,489 in the last quarter, but spent 12 times as much as Shays, using $8.2 million from her personal fortune to finance her campaign.

On the Democratic side, U.S. Rep Chris Murphy, a Cheshire resident, raised $1.2 million in second quarter contributions. His primary opponent, former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, raised $354,251 in the quarter.

In the crowded Aug. 14 primary for the open seat in the 5th Congressional District, three Democrats and four Republican contenders will face off for their parties' nominations.